Interview

I did my first interview with a friend of mine who has been going to Southland for 6 six years.

Q:What do you like about Southland Christian Church?

A: The people there are always genuine and nice. Every time I go to Southland they are welcoming and inviting.

Q: I notice a lot of people do not dress up at Southland. Why do you think that is?

A: I think Southland was trying to make it that way so people feel invited, like people off the street. Sometimes people don't go to church because they have to get all dressed up and if they don't people will judge them and here they don't feel that way.

Q:In 2005 Southland Christian Church canceled their Christmas service. What was your first response to this?

A: When I first heard this I thought it was ridiculous. How could they cancel the Christmas service, it would sound like a joke 10 years ago.

Q: After all that was said from Jon Weece and the people that disagreed with him, do you still have that thought about the canceling of the Christmas service?

A: No, after he explained it I changed my mind. I totally agreed with giving all those volunteers the day off to spend with their family's.

Q: There was all of negative talk about Jon Weece by email from people around the country, what do you think about those things being said?

A: There was tons of mean things said about Jon Weece, and he even mentioned some in a service during all of this. It really bothered me that all these people were saying these things, like someone calling him the son of Satan was ridicules.

Q:The years after the cancellation up till now they haven't canceled the service, why do you think they haven't canceled it again?

A: I think after all that was done with all the bad publicity, they thought its wasn't a good idea.

Q: My last question is: How would you describe Southland Christian Church in one sentence?

A: I would use their motto, love God and love people.

After the interview I learned some new things and it gave me more things to research. First off I liked how her first response about Christmas service being canceled and her later reaction after she got more information. I wonder if people had the same reaction as she did. Also we talked about the things people said about Jon Weece and she mentioned a comic that a Herald Leader cartoonist made about the topic and I would like to find that comic. I'm excited about talking to someone who isn't a member of Southland Christian Church and getting their ideas about this, then compare and contrast answers.

A visit to Southland Christian Church

This weekend i decided to go to Southland Christian Church on Sunday night to see what goes on. There is a service that's called 608 that starts at 6:08 for college students and anyone really. Now if you have ever seen Southland you know how massive the place is. Southland consists of different sections and each part has its own purpose. Along with this building there is a huge parking lot that surrounds it, that I have seen filled many times.

When I arrive there, people are standing in the wide halls that could fit four or five cars, depending on the cars, side by side. I see people from all ages, but mostly people around the ages of 16-30. Everyone is engaged in conversation with one another waiting to for the doors to open to go in the main chapel. Everyone I have talked to seems nice, but the people I talk to are the ones I see and hang out outside Southland. When most people, myself included, think of a church service we think of people wearing blazers and a tie. The people surrounding me were wearing just "normal" everyday cloths like jeans and a t-shirt. There were some exceptions because the occasional person would be dressed up, but for the most part I just saw a lot of collared shirts and jeans.

Once the doors open people started to go in to the sound of a band playing worship music. The inside of the chapel is massive, I would consider it to look like one side of a stadium because the seats go way far back and the ones in the back go way up like bleacher seats. For this service usually the bottoms isle seating are filled and a little bit up people in the bleachers. During the service there is singing, the message, singing and it is over. After it is done people go out to their cars and go to who knows were. After going to Southland I had a couple of questions and thoughts to ponder on. One question is this place is a very big complex, where does all this money come from? What does people from the outside who have never been to Southland think of it? Is it just a big monstrosity with a big parking lot or is it a home to others? I'm hoping to find these answers as my search goes on.

2005 Christmas Canceled

On December 25, 2005 the one place were you might find the Christian community was now empty because of the cancellation of the Christmas service at Southland Christian Church. The reason for this is so the Southland workers and volunteers of 500 could get the day off and spend it with their families. This was pretty big news considering that the New York Times, Times, and magazines all over the world covered the story. Jon Weece, the preacher at Southland Christian Church, was even criticized from all states about this issue. Jon Weece mentioned that one person from Montana said he was "the Son of the Devil" Not only was Weece criticized but the volunteers that worked for the church, people calling them lazy for not wanting to work on Christmas. In the Christian faith it talks about loving your neighbor, but after reading all these hateful things people said to the Church workers I was disturbed.

I can consider both sides of this story though. One side of the spector wants to spend time with their family at home and the others think since we are celebrating the birth of Jesus we should be in the Church. Jon Weece does make a interesting point that Jesus wasn't technically born on the 25 of December but sometime in January or mid-April, so it isn't more than a pagan holiday. Although if I had no one to spend Christmas with, I would want to go Church and spend it with the Church community. So there are arguments on both sides.

After reading the article I have questions that I will hopefully find and answer them in my next blogs. Such as: What did the members on both sides think about of Southland Christian Church think about the canceling of Christmas? Also what does someone outside the Church think about the situation?

Defense of Canceling Church on Christmas - Southland Minister Answers Critics

Lexington Herald-Leader (KY) - December 11, 2005

Author:Frank E. Lockwood

Introduction

Some place were i have interest in is Southland Christian Church, this is the Church that I attend weekly. Southland is a mega-church that started with about 170 and now has 8000 people attending. I know that one year in the past five years they didn't have a Christmas service on Christmas. This caused a big uproar not only in the church but nation wide. I would like to find out not only why the elders decided to do this, but how the community felt about it. I will explore how mega churches are different than small community churches. I want to see how people experiences are with both and their opinion on what they like best. I will ask people who are part of both communities. I'm very confident in my search and I am not worried yet about the search. I am doing Southland to learn more about my church and other churches. To get a feel of both so when I have family I can chose my own church to go to.